The present disclosure generally relates to accessories that interoperate with portable computing devices, and in particular to the connection of multiple accessories to one or more portable computing devices.
In recent years, a number of portable computing devices (PCDs) have been developed. Examples of PCDs include portable media players, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable e-mail devices, tablet computers, video game players, portable navigation units relying on Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data, and multi-function devices that can integrate numerous functions such as media storage and playback, mobile phone, Internet access, e-mail, personal information management, game play, GPS/navigation capability, and the like. Examples of multi-function PCDs include various iPhone®, iPad® and iPod® models manufactured and sold by Apple Inc., assignee of the present application, as well as other portable electronic devices made and sold by other manufacturers and distributors under their respective brand names.
Along with the development of PCDs, accessories have also been created for use with the PCDs. Such accessories can communicate with a PCD using one or more connectors and/or communication interfaces. Accessories can be used to control features of a PCD or be used by a PCD to interact with users and/or the environment. In some instances, multiple accessories can be used concurrently with a PCD. For example, an accessory such as a speaker dock can be docked with a PCD to play audio from a media file such as a movie stored in the PCD, and another accessory such as an external display can be connected to the speaker dock or the PCD to play video from the same media file. In other instances, an accessory can be used concurrently with multiple PCDs. For example, an accessory such as a hub can be used to connect multiple PCDs together to share data and information among the PCDs.